On the outskirts of Traverse City, Michigan, Dann’s House provides supportive housing to eight alcoholic homeless men. Unlike most housing for the homeless, there’s no expectation that residents will stop drinking, even on-site. But their consumption is down, and their lives improved.

Since their debut seven years ago, “social impact bonds” have generated $200 million in the United States and 14 other countries toward programs to reduce homelessness and related social problems. San Jose has already tapped into this new funding source, and San Francisco may in the future.

Governments have been looking for an effective, cost-efficient way to house their homeless populations, especially the high-need individuals straining public resources while out on the streets. Social impact bonds offer a novel public-private partnership that might work.

Dozens of residential hotels have rooms to spare, but it is a seller's market, and city officials cannot force owners to rent. At last count, 4,353 people were unsheltered in San Francisco, with 1,827 empty rooms in private SROs.

Master leasing of single-room occupancy hotels in San Francisco has housed thousands of homeless people — and done so in hotels that are, by and large, a huge improvement over those of a generation ago. But hings could be better.

Starting this fall, the Public Press is reporting on new and creative solutions to homelessness. And because we know we don’t have all the answers, we’re engaging the community to gather fresh ideas and inspire action.

The Legislature’s efforts to ease the housing-affordability crisis could chip away at longstanding protections in the state’s landmark environmental law. Two such bills were introduced by San Francisco lawmakers.

The weeklong S.F. Homeless Project, a coordinated reporting effort by nearly two dozen outlets, offered up some ideas that could contribute to the overall aim of ending homelessness — or at least proposals that could help homeless individuals cope better with life on the streets.

City officials quickly learned that not long after a homeless encampment was cleared, a new one would often take hold in the same area. So they quietly added a team to keep encampments from re-emerging.

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